the high Australian dollar and calls for calls rates. It is a government with no slapped around the head with a

terry towelling hat. It was ridiculous. The Prime

ridiculous. The Prime Minister's shrill and

aggressive speech last night was symptomatic which has lost its way. Pauline

Hanson worried about Australia

being swamped by Asians and

some current MPs worry about the Stock Exchange being swamped by Singapore. Faced with complaints about the proposed merger, Tony Abbott told his partyroom

told his partyroom the Coalition supports foreign investment, but he did

investment, but he did acknowledge there are legitimate concerns. The the deal is in the national interest. Others interest. Others are threatening to scuttle it If

you sell the ASX, I'm just

wondering when we put the High

Court of Australia up for sale. This is a state that

tramples all over freedom of speech, speech, democracy. The

Government always has and always always will take these decisions in Australia's

national interest. Deal or national interest. Deal or no

deal, it's an $8 billion

question. Almost deal, his election, Australia's

youngest ever MP Wyatt Roy

youngest ever MP Wyatt Roy has addressed Parliament for addressed Parliament for the first time. In his speech, first time. In his speech, the 20-year-old paid tribute to the

national Liberal Party for backing him despite some perceptions that he wouldn't get elected. His mother and fare watched from the public gallery. I'm immensely proud of

the fact that I'm a young person elected to this Parliament. I'm immensely Parliament. I'm immensely proud of the fact Liberal National Party and the

Liberal Party federally that

has recognised that our effectively and better government is delivered when we bring bring a diverse background of people to this

people to this place. I

own personal story as a Liberal

story, a story of opportunity

and enterprise. My father who

is here today has taught me the importance of service, of compassion, of responsibility

and of a quiet but steadfast

pride in our country. He has taught me to be tenacious but

to also have a

to also have a sense of humour.

My father started out his

working life on a shovel. He

took hold of the opportunities that

that presented themselves and

worked hard to provide me in

tun with my own tun with my own opportunities

and choices. Not only did my

father teach me that I should

take what I do seriously, but

he also taught me that I should

never take myself too seriously. Farmers had

seriously. Farmers had a win today with the Murray-Darling

Basin Authority promising to

take a closer look at the social and slashing wateral cases. The

Authority also say it is may

not return as much water to the

system as first announced. The

Federal Water Minister says it

was wrong to put was wrong to put the environment above all other considerations. The Murray-Darling Basin Authority

got a better reception in the South Australian town of South Australian town of Murray Bridge. While these irrigators

are facing cuts, they're at the

end of the river and are more

pro environmental flow. For environmental reasons, the Murray-Darling Murray-Darling Basin Authority has has proposed reducing how much water farmers can take from the system by up to 37%. Federal Water Minister says Federal Water Minister says he has received advice from the Government's solicitor

Government's solicitor that

under the water Act, under the water Act, economic

and social factors are equally important. The important. The Opposition believes it is a late. Why did the minister wait until after the release of the guide

guide to seek his own legal advice? The Authority has

defended itself. It says defended itself. It says the Government's solicitor gave

their latest guide the tick of approval before it was released, but it's now considering changing its initial recommendation that

3,000 gigalitres be returned to the mean we would obviously take

less water for the environment

than currently proposed in the

guide. We now need to see the Authority go back, revise Authority go back, revise the numbers in light of the new legal advice, come back with a

balanced Basin plan, that can be supported by all. But one

academic was urges the

Authority not to buckle Authority not to buckle to

pressure from the Water

Minister or farmers. We hope it

operates in the interest of operates in the interest of the nation, not the interest of nation, not the interest of the Water Minister or 8,000

consultation meeting is in Mildura. Farmers say if Mildura. Farmers say if the

authority had been more open

and thorough, a lot of anxiety

could have been avoided. A series of destructive tornadoes has lashed northern Texas.

Texas. In Navarro County, emergency

emergency volunteer Eric Myers

filmed one tornado from filmed one tornado from inside his truck. We're in the

tornado! We're in the tornado!. Trucks tornado!. Trucks were overturned and goods overturned and goods karjs ripped off their tracks, but

there were no reports of

fatalities, just some minor injuries. It was absolutely amazing, absolutely most powerful thing I've ever seen

in my life. I never want to see

it again. The town of Rice took the brunt of the brunt of the tornado with houses damaged, a school closed down and debris

down and debris strewn everywhere. dead in his Brisbane home last

week after a night of partying and heavy drinking. Today he

was remembered as a free spirit

and a great rider and friend. Sarah Katsoulis friend. Sarah Katsoulis was one of Toowoomba's favourite. Kathy

a thousand gathered in his home

town to farewell the jockey. He

won his home town Toowoomba Cup

and made the

and made the mitt wood Handicap. He won the

Winter Stakes, Queensland Oaks

and Randwick Guineas and and Randwick Guineas and won

the AJC Derby on Shootout. He also won the also won the Australian

Premiership with more than Premiership with more than 170

runs last year and it was due

to ride in the Cox Plate last

Saturday, but four days earlier

he was found dead in his

Brisbane home. On October 19th, I

I lost my best friend and my

soul mate. His fiancee says the

couple had been drinking before

he went to sleep. The next

morning she wouldn't wake him. He took fatherhood like a Group One jockey to the Derby.

I can't imagine my life without

him. The jockey who battled his

weight was found guilty of possessing drugses without a

prescription in 2008.

cause of his death is cause of his death is unknown, mourners wanted to

mourners wanted to remember the good times. His brother, former world boxing championship Michael Katsidis sent a message from Thailand Put from Thailand Put simply, he

was and will be a free spirit forever. Some pundits say Katsidis

Katsidis could have gone on to

win racing's ultimate

my eyes, Stathi Katsidis could

have won the Melbourne Cup. It's a tip which will

never be tested. Time for sport now with Claire Aird. And So

You Think no longer the Melbourne Cup favourite, Claire? That's right, the

pundits have changed their mind

and it is now Shocking and it is now Shocking who was

last year's winner. That comes

amid lingering amid lingering doubts about thing thing's ability to run out the distance of the Cup.

The 4-year-old was missing from

The 4-year-old was missing from today's Breakfast with the

Stars at Flemington. The second week

week in a row the Cummings Hore has

headline act before being withdrawn from the breakfast

gallop. Instead, So You Think

shunned the spotlight, training

under the cover of darkness well before the traditional event. I suppose you could

give the horses give the horses the opportunity

and then judge it on the day.

Like the horses come first. He.

They would have

They would have worked earlier

today and dodged the hullabaloo and for a horse and for a horse like So You

Think he can get a little bit

excited and it's probably the

right thing

was also given a workout at the breakfast gallops. He finished

8th in the Caulfield Cup.

Trainer Chris Wallace says Trainer Chris Wallace says it

depends on how the gelding in Saturday's in Saturday's McKinnon

Stakes. All we know is he

doesn't handle wet tracks. So

we will have to see in the McKinnon, he needs to be attacking the line, attacking the line, not just finishing off one pace, because

if he can't get a strong 2,000

in the McKinnon, he in the McKinnon, he certainly won't get the two mile. Well,

hoping for more runs against Sri Lanka. England has Sri Lanka. England has received some good news with injured

spearhead James Anderson on

target to recover from a broken rib in

rib in time for the start of

the Ashes. The Pakistanis are

learning to live without their suspended trio of stars. It's

never easy when you never easy when you lose so many players and key players like Mohammad Amir and

Butt. They were really, really

fine players but that's the way

it is. The series is being

played in Abu Dhabi because played in Abu Dhabi because of on going Pakistan. The captain of Pakistan. The captain of the Australian one-day squad, Ricky Ponting. David Warner and

Callum Ferguson will make way for Ponting and Shane Watson.

Dave jer Doherty has also been named Hauritz. Yes, look, Hauritz. Yes, look, it's been probably the best performed one-day spinner around one-day spinner around the country in domestic cricket for some time, and he has done particularly particularly well, started the

season again well. We're keen

to have a look at the left-arm

finger spinner ahead of the

World Cup. I would think World Cup. I would think we

will take two spinners to the

World Cup in all

likelihood. (Lost audio) Samantha Stosur

audio) Samantha Stosur has

joined the elite of women's

tennis or the season-ending WTA

Championships. Stosur's first

match will be against the woman who beat her in the French Open, Francesca Schiavone The weather is hard, conditions are

tough and all that and you're

playing et best players in the

world, so it doesn't get much harder than that. To A-League and a damaged and a damaged playing surface has forced organisers to postpone tomorrow night's

A-League match between the Jets

and the Fury. Football

Federation Australia says a

motor cross event has made

Newcastle's home ground unsafe

for players. A decision on Sunday's match between the Jets and Melbourne Heart is expected

to be made tomorrow. Earlier North Queensland's quest to have Socceroos legend have Socceroos legend Mark

botion niche on its training bench

bench for that clash with the Jets. (Mark Jets. (Mark Bosnich.) Melbourne

Victory CEO Jeff Miles will

part ways with the club after 5

years at the helm. I can expect Melbourne Victory will be

looking for a new CEO very

shortly. Thanks for that, Claire. Now, Claire. Now, shrinking

waistlines or waste of time?

Government programs tackling

childhood obesity has cost tens of millions of dollars over the

years but according to the Productivity Commission most of them aren't working. In many

cases it says the benefits are

limited and outweighed by the

cost. Whether it's eating more vegies or getting regular

exercise, the message has been

constant, but it seems largely

ignored. The Productivity

Commission reviewed 27 initiatives designed to reduce obesity in school-aged children. It says:

But some health experts believe believe the Productivity Commission review is flawed. It

is a very selective and narrow

review of the evidence and it's a bit

I think actually if you look

at the detail t actually gives

quite a big tick to a quite a big tick to a range of the interventions that the

Government has been involved

with. The latest obesity figures tell the story. Teenage

boys are getting heavier, while

the number of overweight girls

the number of overweight girls

has remained steady. At the

moment we know that one in children to one in four are overweight or obese. It's

difficult to estimate how much money has been spent on the anti- obesity programs, anti- obesity programs, about

you it would run into the

millions, and there has been little analysis or effective the programs are. That's where the national

preventative health agency

comes in. One of the things that we will ask the agency that we will ask the agency to do is to weigh the best

evidence that's available on

what works. On the positive side, the review found obesity programs were more likely to be effective if they were community-based and were long

term. A baby boy, born four months premature in a hospital

toilet, has been taken home by his parents for the first time.

Kian Richardson's mother, Tamara

Tamara had been having

complications with her

pregnancy when she gave birth

at 23 weeks in the toilet at Melbourne's Melbourne's Monash Medical

Centre. The baby weighed less

than 700 grams and has spent than 700 grams and has spent

more than 200 days in hospital.

At one stage doctors feared he

wouldn't survive after his lungs collapsed grown to a healthy 4.5kg. It

was bizarre, all bizarre. I didn't know he was coming and

didn't know he was coming and then all of a sudden seeing this tiny this tiny little bundle wrapped

in plastic and now we have a

big bubba, it's amazing big bubba, it's amazing to

think he has come from think he has come from that to this in 7 months. Doctors will

continue to monitor his lung health and neurological development, but they're

optimistic about his long-term health. health.

Graham Creed with the

Graham Creed with the two-day outlook. Two cool affect the country during Wednesday. One will Wednesday. One will slide up the New South Wales coast, introducing low cloud introducing low cloud and fairly light showers, fairly light showers, even the possibility of a possibility of a brief thunderstorm. stronger system, moving through

the south-west of WA, with wide spread showers spread showers and thunderstorms, but that atmospheric moisture is

relatively low. Not until it

start togs move further east around Friday, Saturday around Friday, Saturday and Sunday that we will see more substantial rainfall with substantial rainfall with this system. Still instability

through parts of Queensland and showers and thunderstorms popping up through the

afternoon across those areas. Some coastal showers through the southern parts of Queensland, but that Queensland, but that frontal system system just seeing some

residual showers about the south-east. They south-east. They are expected to clear as the day progresses,

but in the west, shows showers

and thunderstorms should spread

further inland with that cloud building and also spreading

towards the western border

areas of South Australia. As we head into Thursday, we can see

that expanse of cloud that has

been fed been fed from moisture in the

north and also in off the eastern system move noose the east, we start to see more wide spread

rain developing . It will begin

to spread through the western

part fs of South Australia part fs of South Australia on Thursday. At this Thursday. At this stage totals tore the - for the State on

Friday looking around about 10-30mm. Similar falls into

Victoria, Tasmania and New South Wales as we hit the

weekend. Over in the south

west Still cool southerly winds

so a fairly persistent drp in

temperatures there from what you've been experiencing and a

few showers particularly around

the coastal fringe, but nothing

in the way of overly

falls. A few showers along the

New South Wales coast but they

should gradually dissipate as

the day progresses as the frontal system

and moves out into the system.

Showers and thunderstorms fairly likely in the afternoon. Buyer beware, 'Choice' has released 'Choice' has released its annual Shonky awards and some

of the nation's biggest corporate names are on the corporate names are on the list. This is one This is one award ceremony no executive wants to be

associated with. LG has an

incorrect star rating mean it

is will use hundreds of dollars more in power more in power over its

lifetime What really make it is shonky is that LG have form in

this area, that they have had issues with issues with airconditioners,

been taken to the ACCC, they've had issues about washing machines, been taken to the

ACCC. There is the ACCC. There is the $60 Power Balance wrist band or pendant,

promising to make promising to make you stronger

and more poised. Needless to

say, the only

Power Balance band has is really

really in emptying your wallet. The Commonwealth Bank

awards program that needs

customers to spend $12,000 to receive just $20 in flight

rewards. We think it's a pretty shabby system. There is the

Medallist rope that is labelled

as meeting Australian standards for recreational use, but it only made of tissue paper. Mediterranean extra virgin

olive oil won a Shonky because

many brands lacked the "extra" in

in the for a sledging wore

colour-coded painkillers that

targeted different areas but

they all contained the same

ingredient as regular

Nurofen. At No. 1, Coles. It turns out the recipes already

rely on custodies having key

ingredients in their pantries. Given there is so

much focus in terms of supermarkets and the prices of

things woo, we think it's dead shonky. 'Choice' says that $10

curry costs close tore finance, Opposition in Canberra

to the proposed merger between

the Australian and Singapore

Stock Exchanges is proving

costly for investors. The ASX share price fell the most it has in nearly two years. Here is Phillip

These days, when two bobs

speak, markets listen. You can

see Bob Katter and Bob Brown's opposition to the so-called

opposition to the so-called

merger of the Australian and Singapore Stock Exchanges cost

shareholders more than a few bob. ASX shares finished more

than 7% lower and well below the original the original bid's worth of

$48. They're not too thrilled

in Singapore either. The

Singapore Exchange price fell

again. The swooes says

profitability are threatened by competition. The deal would

create the fifth biggest market

but behind who? It would leapfrog Wall Street. The political argy-bargy

ASX didn't help the local

market. It fell 22 points. All

the banks were sold off after yesterday's rise. At the Commonwealth Bank Commonwealth Bank AGMCEO Ralph Norris bought back into the interest

interest rate debate saying funding costs are rising and

the debate is getting out of

hand. Well, just wait until tomorrow. Interest rate speculation will be after the inflation number. Deutsche Bank reckons if Deutsche Bank reckons if the Australian dollar remains in

the high 90s, it will wipe

about a quarter rate next year. The blue rate next year. The blue line shows inflation without a

strong Australian dollar and the red line takes the red line takes the strong Australian dollar into account.

is still above 99 US cents and

a strong inflation number a strong inflation number could push it above parity because higher interest rates will be expected come Melbourne Cup Day. That's Day. That's finance.

Tonight's top story Tonight's top story again -

up to 10 Australian surfers up to 10 Australian surfers are

still unaccounted for after a

powerful earth quick powerful earth quick off

Sumatra. They were on a tourist

boat at the

officials have not been able to

contact them since, but they do say mobile phone coverage say mobile phone coverage is ex-Tally Roomly pore in that -

poor in that area. More than 160 are 160 are missing. I will be back

with an update in a moment.

Then stay with us for 'Lateline Business'. You're watching ABC

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former prime minister John Howard has released his long awaited memoir. At of his new book in Sydney, the

former prime minister said Peter

Peter Costello was the best Treasurer Australia had Treasurer Australia had seen.